RSL tries to pile more misery on RBNY

Jun 24, 2015 - 12:04 AM
Harrison, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Red Bull New York will be eager to snap its
four-game losing skid on Wednesday as the club welcomes Real Salt Lake to Red
Bull Arena.

New York's last outing was an eventful 2-1 home defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps
FC that saw the club miss two penalty kicks and have a player sent off 11
minutes into the match.

Despite those setbacks, the Red Bulls remained in the match until the end, but
still failed to take anything from the contest.

Bradley Wright-Phillips became the first player in MLS history to miss two
penalty kicks in one game, and it was his first effort in the fourth minute
that could have made a big difference.

The match was totally flipped on its head in the span of 11 minutes as Wright-
Phillips missed a penalty kick and then Sacha Kljestan was sent off in the
11th minute for swinging an elbow at the head of Vancouver's Kendall Waston.

"I have to take responsibility for what I did," Kljestan said. "Although I
didn't connect with him, I made a stupid play and an idiotic decision in the
heat of the moment and I have to take responsibility for losing this game for
us. If I stay on the field, I think we win the game."

Kekuta Manneh scored four minutes later to put the Whitecaps into the lead,
and New York suddenly found itself down a man and down a goal in quick
succession.

Even with 10 men, New York could have equalized from the spot in the 64th, but
once again Wright-Phillips failed to convert and Kianz Froese scored in the
77th minute to double Vancouver's advantage.

The Red Bulls continued to battle, and even though they lost a fourth straight
game, winger Mike Grella still felt confident about his team.

"We haven't been outplayed yet," Grella said after the match. "We just need to
find a way to turn these pretty decent performances and [close them out.] No
team has outplayed us, I don't think we've played a team that's been better
than us yet."

That confidence should help the side ahead of Wednesday's game against a Salt
Lake team coming off a 2-1 win at Sporting Kansas City thanks to a late goal
from Olmes Garcia.

RSL had managed just one point from its previous three games, scoring just one
goal, but things came together a bit for Jeff Cassar's side in the win over
Kansas City, and he will hoping that things can begin to turn in a different
direction.

"I told the players at halftime that they had done everything that we had
asked for in the first half," said Cassar, who felt his team played one its
best halves of the season. "At times the team can be fragile because we
haven't been getting the results that we have wanted. The guys responded. I
think both teams had a bit of a lull in the second half but we grinded through
that. We got a second wind in the last 10 minutes to create some more chances.
I think it is a step in the right direction and I'm really proud of the guys."

Salt Lake enters the contest in eighth place in the Western Conference, but
the team is just four points from third, meaning a good run of results could
vault the club up the table quickly.